Paul George Appears on "Jimmy Kimmel Live"

Paul George Appears on “Jimmy Kimmel Live”

Paul George made an appearance as a guest on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on Monday night, and talked about whether he still watches the playoffs after being knocked out, his signature shoe, his draft night memories, and more.

While George spent much of the interview with Kimmel parrying comments about how Kimmel — an outspoken Lakers fan — would love to have George play for L.A., the Pacers’ four-time All-Star shared a bit of news in that he is planning on doing offseason workouts with one of his basketball idols: Kobe Bryant.

“I plan on working out with him, picking his brain a little bit,” explained George.

Kimmel shared an anecdote about a player who was going to workout with Bryant and was told Kobe would pick him up at four, only to be left wondering where Bryant was. Upon calling Bryant, the Mamba replied that he meant 4 AM, not PM. So Kimmel asked if George was ready for some pre-dawn training sessions.

“If it’s with Kobe, whatever he says, you gotta do. It’s the Mamba.”

George also got a chance to talk about his signature Nike shoe, the PG 1, and the process that went into making it.

PG explained that he initially drew up a draft of a shoe and sent it to Nike, and they came back and told him that frankly, it was terrible.

Luckily for George, Nike deployed a professional to work with him on the design and a number of sessions followed to help craft George’s vision for his custom kicks. “I had full input on everything on it,” George explained.

To open the interview, Kimmel asked George if he still watches the playoffs after getting eliminated from the postseason.

“I do. I’m a big fan of the game, I love the NBA. I love watching basketball, I love watching good basketball.” George said. “So it’s kind of a motivation.“

George also said that he tends to root for the team that knocked him out of the playoffs, as confirmation that it was a difficult opponent, and that he will sometimes text NBA players he’s close with if he sees something that he feels he can help with.

When the conversation turned back to the Lakers, George offered a simple reply: “I love Indy though, man.”